“Could change be afoot? Hamas’s internal grip on Gaza is threatened by rising economic discontent. The Trump administration will soon unveil a peace plan built on economic incentives for the Palestinian people. The movement’s rhetoric is unbending, but do the Palestinian people long for new ideas?”

“Stephen Sackur speaks to Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, a prize-winning Israeli novelist who brings a trained psychologist’s eye to compelling stories set in her home country. Hers is a world of moral ambiguity where truth, memory, right and wrong aren’t necessarily what they seem. Does her work tell us something important about the Israeli psyche?”

“There is plenty of disturbing data pointing to a significant rise in overt anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. What are the reasons and how should the Jewish community respond? How much reassurance and protection is being offered to Jews whose past has so often been written in blood?
Is rising anti-Semitism a symptom of a liberal democratic order that is starting to crumble?”

“Israel’s seemingly indestructible Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dodged another political bullet. After the recent flare up of violence in Gaza, his defence minister quit and another key cabinet hawk – Naftali Bennett, said he would go too if he wasn’t given the defence portfolio.
The prime minister called his bluff, and Mr Bennett has decided to stay put after all.What’s behind the chaos in Israeli politics? Are the right wing factions putting their own interests before those of the nation?”

”In the turbulent recent history of the Middle East, has there ever been a time when Israel has seemed more powerful – militarily, diplomatically and economically? Israel has the fulsome support of the Trump Administration and also has common strategic interests with Saudi Arabia and Arab nations pre-occupied with perceived threats from Iran. Is Israel making wise choices from its position of strength?”